Payment cards such as credit cards, debit cards and/or prepaid cards are ubiquitous and have been used by consumers for decades. Such cards typically include a magnetic stripe which stores the relevant account number and other data. To initiate a typical purchase transaction with such a card, the card is swiped through a magnetic stripe reader that is part of a point-of-sale (POS) terminal and the reader reads the account number and other data from the magnetic stripe. The account number is then used to route a transaction authorization request that is initiated by the POS terminal. The authorization request is typically routed from the merchant's acquiring financial institution (“acquirer”) to a server computer operated by or on behalf of the issuer of the payment account, and the issuer's server computer provides a response. If the authorization response indicates that the issuer authorized the transaction, the transaction is consummated at the POS terminal. The transaction is later cleared for settlement via the acquirer and the issuer.
Payment cards have been developed that allow the account number to be automatically read from the payment card by radio frequency communications. In particular, a “proximity reader” which may be incorporated with the POS terminal is configured to read the account number and/or other transaction information from the payment card. Such payment cards are often referred to as “proximity payment cards” or “contactless payment cards”, and conventionally include a radio frequency identification (RFID) integrated circuit (IC, often referred to as a “chip”) embedded in the payment card body. A suitable antenna is also embedded in the payment card body and is connected to the RFID chip to allow the chip to receive and transmit data by RF communication via the antenna. In typical arrangements, the RFID chip is powered from an interrogation signal transmitted by the proximity reader and received by the payment card antenna. In some embodiments, the payment card account number and other information may be uploaded from the IC payment card to the POS terminal during a purchase transaction. Authorization and clearing may then proceed in substantially the same manner as for a transaction initiated with a magnetic stripe payment card (putting aside additional security measures that may be implemented by using the processing capabilities of the IC payment card). An example of a contactless payment card standard is the “PayPass™” payment card system established by MasterCard International Incorporated, the assignee hereof. Wireless exchanges of information via NFC (Near Field Communication) have been developed for contactless or proximity payment applications.
The capabilities of a contactless payment card have been incorporated into a mobile device, such as a mobile telephone, which turns that mobile device into a contactless payment device or payment-enabled mobile device. A payment card account number and other account or device-specific information is loaded into the mobile device by a process typically referred to as “personalization”. Since mobile devices, such as mobile telephones, come in many sizes and shapes (and use different operating systems), these mobile devices cannot be readily subjected to the same kind of automated personalization processes and testing that contactless payment cards typically undergo. In the case of mobile telephones, logistical problems also arise concerning transporting a mobile telephone/contactless payment device to a personalization facility either after the user has purchased the mobile telephone, or before placing the cell phone in a typical mobile telephone distribution channel. Thus, for mobile telephone/contactless payment devices that are already in a distribution channel and/or already in the user's possession, in some markets remote or “over the air” (OTA) data communications are utilized to personalize the mobile telephone/contactless payment card device by data communication, for example, via the mobile telephone network in which the phone operates or via the internet.
Many reasons may be used to explain why a payment-enabled device (for example, a mobile telephone that has been personalized so as to be capable of engaging in purchase transactions) does not work correctly when presented at a reader device, for example, in a retail store. The mobile device owner or consumer typically assumes that the payment hardware (such as NFC circuitry) of the mobile device is defective, and seeks support from the mobile device supplier. Unfortunately, since the payment hardware typically represents only short range communications functionality, it is very difficult for a consumer to be in communication with the Issuer while at the same time being present at a merchant location in order to test their device when prompted. It is also not practical for the consumer to return their device to a repair facility or to ship the mobile device back to the device supplier. Thus, the inventors recognized that a need exists for simple, cost effective and accurate apparatus and/or processes for use by consumers to test the functionality of the short range communications hardware (for example, NFC circuitry or other type of contactless communications circuitry) of their mobile devices.